PLEASANT HILL — In sharp contrast to the last round of contract talks when the police union publicly clashed with city leaders over proposed benefit cuts, the parties reached an agreement fairly quickly this year.

The three-year contract with the 60-member Police Officers Association includes annual raises and will cost the city an additional $1.45 million. Salaries and benefits make up about 70 percent of the city’s general fund expenditures.

“The goal was to make sure that the city is competitive in the job market,” City Manager June Catalano said. “But we also want to make sure we have an adequate budget to meet all the city’s needs.”

Sgt. David Garcia, association president, could not be reached for comment.

In each year of the contract, police officers will receive a 3.75 percent raise and non-sworn employees will get a 3 percent salary increase.

To bring Pleasant Hill’s police salaries in line with those offered in neighboring cities, in the first year of the contract all officers get an additional 2.5 percent raise — for a total of 6.25 percent — and the city increased the salaries of the department’s six sergeants by 2.5 percent on top of that.

Finally, officers assigned as a detective will receive a premium equal to 5 percent of their base hourly pay rate, and officers working the graveyard shift will be paid an additional 2.5 percent of their hourly rate.

Contract negotiations lasted about four months, according to Catalano. The last time the two parties were at the bargaining table, the city imposed a one-year contract on the police union when employees refused to accept concessions.

At the time, police employees paid $55 per month for family medical coverage and the city covered the entire employee pension contribution.

In 2012, the union agreed to a four-year contract that required workers to contribute more for their pensions and health care. Those benefits changes saved Pleasant Hill more than $1.5 million over the life of the contract, according to the city.

Today, POA members pay 20 percent of the health insurance premium and the full employee contribution to CalPERS, the state retirement system.

Employees had warned that cutting benefits would push officers to seek jobs with other police agencies and hamper the city’s ability to recruit quality candidates.

In the past four years, six police officers left Pleasant Hill for other departments, although it is impossible to say why. Currently, the city is in the process of filling two of the four vacancies on the police force, Catalano said.

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